OCR Text |
Show I ON THE SUBJECT OF "TOWN IMPROVEBENF We are familiar with the trite quotation, "nothing succeeds like success." It meets us on nil sides. It Is the nc plus ultra of argument as to efficiency, and Is a literal illustration of the truth of the Master's nsscrtion thnt "unto him that hnth, shnlLbe given" except that it doesn't always exactly fulfill the Master's conception of the thought. Nowadays, when the sovereign voters of n muuici-pfdity muuici-pfdity nre fnced with the need of choosing n corps of officials of-ficials to snfeguard the public interests, the voters immediately im-mediately begin to question the fitness of each man proposed. pro-posed. The ability of the candidnte, which in most instance in-stance is his chief rccommendntion (and, in the RIGHT SENSE, should be), is discussed freely, and the whole -industrial nnd business life of the mnn is lnid bare to the public gaze. But the clinching argument is thnt he hns SUCCEEDED. His own affairs hnve been prosecuted with energy nntl vigor, nnd with intelligence nnd sound judgment. As n result, he is what the whole world pronounces a successful man. Now we nrgucthat If this mnn has been so successful success-ful with his own nffnlrs, it ncccssnrily follows thnt he will be equally so with the nffnlrs of the people. So we rnlly nnd plnce him In power nnd in too mnny instances 'awnkc to the fnct thnt wo hnve dropped our enndy. It Is true thnt "nothing succeeds like success," but not in the sense in which we mostly accept it. Nothing so well succeeds in blinding us to the real defects of human character as n little success in a particular line. Who hns not seen the disastrous failure of mnny men who have been successful in the lines with which they were familiar, when they have undertaken work for which they had neither aptitude, knowledge nor training? It is discouraging indeed to the citizen possessed of rcnl civic pride to sec the destinies of his community committed com-mitted to men who hnve nothing better to recommend them thnn the fnct thnt they hnve accumulated money .and property. This success, instead of being a rccommendntion, rccom-mendntion, is too often a fatal bnrricr to their usefulness, In that it shows self-interest to be their ruling passion. Many of earth's greatest benefactors have been men who never nccumulntcd much wealth. In mnny instnnccs tho reverse is true they hnve spent nnd been spent in the service of humnnity. We nre most forcibly reminded of the truth of this assertion on reading of the death of Count Zeppelin in Germany recently. Born of a noble family, heir to princely prince-ly estates, he early in life was Imbued with nn idea to further the progress of the human race by developing air navigation. His time, his energy, nnd the bulk of his vnst fortune went into thc.expcrimcnts until nt his death ho was what one might term a "successful failure." Ho had entirely lost sight of his own interests, but lie had conferred on humanity a boon which, in the nrts of peace, time alone can estimate, for the day will come when rapid transit in the air will be as common ns the railroads of today. In our municipal affairs let us lose the idea that tho man who ia successful with own affairs will be the same with the affnira of the people. We have seen n mnn who nccumulntcd n fortune nt stock raising, but who, when entrusted by his pcoplo with building a system of pike roads, sunk n largo bond issue in mud. Ho had raised stcerB and knew how. 'Ho hnd NEVER built roads, and FAILED when he attempted It. Success is relntivc. The mnn who can construct n perfect street is n pronounced success, though he hnsn't n dollar to his name. And the greatest success of nil is thnt of tho mnn who can aid in the success of tho largest number of his fellow men. Let us cense conferring office upon men merely ns n trlbuto to their success. Find tho mnn with tho ability to perform tho duties required, nnd then entrust them to him. Success will bo the result. |